A2J Author vs Rocket Lawyer Estate Planning

A2J Author lets court, legal services, and law school staff create web-based guided interviews to help self-represented litigants complete court documents. Authors use a graphical flowchart map to arrange dialogue and branching questions. Document tools include a template automator for basic documents and the A2J Document Assembly Tool for creating templates. CALI offers free hosting on A2J.org for interviews and templates intended to assist litigants; organizations can also self-host the A2J Viewer, A2J DAT, and interviews. The system is browser-based, and the project history says version 7.0 opened the source under the GNU Affero General Public License. Authors can create Section 508 and WCAG2-compliant interviews when using the latest Viewer and following the accessibility checklist. The free plan is for legal aid organizations, government entities, courts, and other nonprofits using the software non-commercially, with a registered and authenticated account. HotDocs templates cannot be published on A2J.org. When self-hosting, generating documents from HotDocs templates requires LawHelp Interactive or a HotDocs server.

Rocket Lawyer Estate Planning helps people prepare documents for illness or loss, including a Last Will and Testament, Living Will, and Power of Attorney. Its questions are tailored to the user’s state, and its planning scope also includes trusts and beneficiary planning. Users can personalize, sign, share, and store documents. An AI legal assistant answers legal questions and can help identify documents that may fit a person’s needs. Members can send an attorney a question with relevant documents for a written response within one business day, or arrange a live 20-minute call. Standard costs $149 per year, Plus $249 per year, and Pro $349 per year; all include unlimited AI legal Q&A, contract reviews, documents, and e-signatures, with different allowances for attorney questions and live consultations. A 7-day trial is listed. The service is available on iOS and the web. Rocket Lawyer says it is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation; Legal Advice Sessions are provided by independent, licensed attorneys.